𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

one hundred fourteen.

─☼☼☼─

IT WAS KIARA who caught Charlotte sneaking back to Poguelandia early the next morning. The sun was just rising over the horizon, basking the morning in an early glow as the eldest Carrera sister tiptoed up the porch steps. 

"Where were you?"

Charlotte jumped at the voice, not expecting to see any sign of human life in the house for at least another three hours. But alas, her younger sister was sprawled out on one of the outdoor couches, joint in hand. 

"Why are you smoking this early in the morning?" Charlotte fired back, marching toward Kiara before plucking the joint from her hand. "That shit'll kill you."

Kiara scoffed, sitting up and reaching for the joint. "Stop acting like you've never smoked before, princess. And you didn't answer my question."

Charlotte knew she was caught red-handed, and had absolutely no way out of this one. An exhale fell from her lips before she lowered herself onto the other end of the couch. She had never meant to fall asleep at Rafe's, and she had never meant to be sneaking back into her house like a teenager the next morning. But things didn't always go the way she wanted them to. 

And despite nothing going according to plan, and being caught, Charlotte wasn't upset over it. This time with Rafe was going to be different. She was done lying, hiding, and pretending. Either the Pogues accepted the fact that her and Rafe were friends, or they didn't. But Charlotte wasn't going to cut him off again because of some deep-rooted Kook vs. Pogue drama. 

Saying fuck to it all, she reached over and snatched the joint from Kiara again. This time she brought it to her lips and inhaled. "I was at Rafe's," she answered, letting out a small cough as the smoke hit her lungs. 

Kiara's eyebrows shot up, her mouth flying up to respond. Charlotte held up a hand, stopping her sister from saying anything. "It's not what you think," she assured. And even if it was, what did it matter. 

An incredulous expression crossed Kiara's face. "Well are those his clothes?" She challenged.

Charlotte nodded toward the grass below. "Look at the grass Kiara." She waited for her sister to do so. With a look of pure confusion, Kiara finally did. "It's wet, right?" Charlotte confirmed. "It was pouring rain last night. I was drenched by the time Rafe opened the door, he let me borrow some clothes. That's that."

Not believing that nothing happened between the two star-crossed lovers, Kiara crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay...but why were you even there in the first place? In the middle of the night? Why did you go back to him?"

"I needed to talk to him," Charlotte stated, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Kiara huffed. "Again I ask, in the middle of the night?" 

Charlotte passed the joint back to her sister, regretting her decision to smoke already. "He wrote me a journal over the past year," she admitted, knowing that was the most she was going to reveal about Rafe's written words to her. "I read it last night and I...well, I couldn't sleep without talking to him."

She said everything so calmly, so matter of fact. In the past she would have been defensive, begging her sister to see her side of things. But Charlotte was done doing that, she was done begging people to understand something they never could.